Research and planning- teaser trailer analysis

The second trailer I am going to analyze is the film trailer for Panic Room This film came out in 2002 and is directed by David Fincher. It has an 15 certificate and is a Thriller film I am going to watch this trailer and comment on Genre, Representation, Narrative, Audience and Media Language throughout it.

Genre

This teaser trailer is a thriller trailer. I can tell this from watching it because it has mostly low key lighting which is a common convention of this genre film. Also the trailer as a whole has an element of creepyness to it and this is further enforced by the persons voice that can be heard throughout most of the trailer. However unlike most tradional films including thriller films there doesnt seem to be any clear cut heroes or villains in this trailer and there is a bit of ambiguity as to what this film is really about. As well as this Carol Glover's theory applies to this trailer as there seems to be a girl in the film who is being terrorised throughout.

Representation

In this trailer the female character ( in this case) the young girl is represented as being weak and passive. Also she doesnt seem to have much control over the narrative. However this could be contradicted by the fact there is a woman doing the voiceover all the way through the trailer and normally most mainstream trailers have a man doing the voiceover for them. As well as this the trailer for Panic Room could be said to fit into Laura Mulvey's theory. This is because it looks as though the whole trailer is shown from a male gaze/point of view. This is again reinforced by the fact that the women are shown as sex objects and there is even one shot showing one of the women lying in bed. Moreover the representation of the men in the trailer is quite ambiguous as they could be seen as both heroes and villains.

Narrative

The trailer is basically about how these two women get trapped in a "panic room" and find it almost impossible to escape and presumably need saving in the end. From the trailer I can see that the two women are the protagonists in the film. Also it could be said that this film trailer fits Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes theory. This is because there are clear binary oppostites in the trailer. The two women are the good characters and the men trying to trap them are the bad characters. As well as this the trailer seems to also fit into Propp's theory about specific characters types within film. This is because there is hero characters which are the two women, there is villains which are the men and there is also princess type characters which are the two women also as they presumably need saving at the end.

Audience

The target audience for this film trailer would probably be teenagers from the age of 15-18. I think they would probably be students who have interests such as horrors and thriller films. This trailer could fit in and support the Reception theory. This is because while watching the trailer it could be perceived or interpreted in different ways. For example some people may think that the men in the trailer are villains and are trying to trap the girls. However others may see the men as the hero running around trying to save the girls.  Also whilst watching this trailer the audience can be quite passive and just sit there and let the information go into their brain. This is because it is quite easy to follow the trailer and the concept is quite simple and so the target audience doesn't require much concentration in order to understand what is happening in the trailer.

Media Language

Cinematography

• A long shot of the panic room is used as the first shot in the trailer. This is a good way to establish the scene and setting for the rest of the trailer.
• Then very slow pans are used in order to show specific bits of the set in detail. An example of one of the specific bits that are show is the locks in the room. This is done to emphasize just how strong the locks are and hard it would be to break in or out of the panic room. This also helps emphasize the scary/trapped element in the trailer.
• All the way through the trailer the is lots of zooming in and out of all the security features of the panic room. The zooms arevery slow and this helps slow down the overall pace of the trailer. Also this helps the audience keep up with the action in the trailer.
• Furthermore the fact the camera moves very slowly during the first part of the trailer helps build up the audiences anticipation and makes us think its building up to some sort of climax. 
• When the disruption is shown the camera quickens up slightly and this mirrors the action on screen getting a bit faster and more interesting. 
• Also a lot of close ups are used to show the characters faces. The close ups are used to show there facial expressions especially when they are scared. Showing them scared also enforces fear in the audience and this is commonly done in horror/thriller films.
• Most of the time the two women are shown using a high angle camera to make them look small and less powerful
• Also low angle shots of the men are used to make them seem superior and more powerful than the women in the trailer. 

Editing

• During the beginning of the trailer the editing is very slow and quite long takes are shown. This is done to slow the trailer as much as possible without it becoming boring. Also the slow editing helps build up the audiences anticipation for the rest of the trailer because it looks like something quite big and high action is going to happen soon.
• Also simple straight cuts are used throughout the trailer to show continuity.
• There is also jump cuts used to go from one part of the panic room to the other. These are used to make the audience a little disorientated and keep them interested in the trailer.
• Later on in the trailer when the disruption and parts of the climax are shown the editing gets slightly fast and this mirrors the action on screen as this also gets faster.
• The editing follows the exact same pattern all the way through the trailer. This pattern is the fact there is slow pans and then a jump cut and then another slow pan and then another jump cut. This pattern creates a sense of continuity and you can tell its all from the same trailer even though it does a lot of jump cuts from one thing to another.
• The final bit of editing in the trailer is a blackout before the name of the film comes on the screen. The blackout could signify a death or end of something. 

Sound

• Throughout most of the trailer there is a woman's doing a voice-over for the trailer. However the woman's voice does not sound like a normal typical woman's voice. Instead it sounds very creepy and a bit deranged. I think this adds to the effect of the whole trailer as it makes the audience immediately sit up and take notice. Also when hearing the deranged voice the audience may feel a sense of fear which fits perfectly with the horror/thriller genre.
• 45 seconds into the trailer the voiceover stops and is replaced by a monotone kinda humming sound as the rest of the action takes place. This is done because at this point the action is more important than the sound and so by getting rid of sound it allows the audience to fully focus on the images on screen.
• The humming sound continues for most of the rest of the trailer apart from the last 11 seconds. 
• Then during the last 11 second of the trailer we get to hear one line of actors dialogue and this is the only actors dialogue we hear throughout the entire trailer.  I think we hear hardly any dialogue because it keeps the audience in even more suspense as to what the actual plot for the film is.
• The one line of actors dialogue we hear is when one of the girls says "What is he doing?" and the other girl says "there locking us up"

Mise-en-scene

•  The first shot we see is over the panic room and it is shot using low key lighting. This is done to make it look dark and scary and make the audience feel uneasy. Also the low key lighting used is a very common trait in most horror/thriller films.
• Within the mise-en-scene we can see lots of locks and security features in the panic room such as lead doors and surveillance  cameras
• Through the mise-en-scene you can see that the room is quite rough and dirty and this adds to the rough uneasy feel to the film trailer
• Then later on in the trailer as the action pick up there is a yellow tinted light used a lot to create a different colour other than just black or grey.
• Also this yellow light could represent the "light at the end of the tunnel" scenario and could show that they have a small chance of escaping.
• The villains/men in the trailer are wearing dark clothes such as black or grey. These colours connotate evil and death.
• However similarly the two girls/women in the trailer are also wearing dark coloured clothing. This could show that they are not as innocent as they may seem at first and also have dark side to them.
• As well as this the title for the film "panic room" is written in red writing which could connotate danger, evil, blood or the devil. Also red could be seen as a colour that shows some kind of warning.
• Moreover this trailer follows the Kuleshov method. This is because there is a montage used to show all the different parts of the film such as the disruption and climax. Montages are used to show the main bits in a film in a short space of time without giving away too much of the plot. I think the montage in this trailer is used perfectly as it shows you all the different bits of the film but still leaves you clueless as to the actual narrative and plot of the film.